Leadership

Leadership

Sharon has over 15 years of experience in the field of research and international development. As the Executive Director of IFMR LEAD, Sharon leads the strategic direction of the organization and provides oversight to research, policy and capacity building engagements. Sharon has extensive experience in building important partnerships between academia, donor agencies, policymakers and practitioners to promote evidence-based policymaking and practice at scale. She has hands-on experience in research and analytics, and is a Principal Investigator on several IFMR LEAD studies as well. Prior to joining IFMR LEAD, Sharon was an Economist with the Analysis Group in Montreal, Canada.

Sharon holds a Master’s degree in Social Research Methods from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Master’s degree in Economics from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Ajay’s interest in the livelihoods of small farmers made him spend significant time in the field identifying issues in agriculture that have resulted in low growth rates. Ajay co-founded Magasool in 2012, a not-for-profit initiative aimed at improving the lives of small and marginal farmers in Tamil Nadu. Magasool focuses on providing specialized agriculture inputs that improve yield or decrease input costs. In addition, Ajay has been an Advisor to IFMR LEAD since February 2013.

Ajay got his PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2008. He joined IFMR LEAD’s Centre for Microfinance (CMF) as the Head of the Analytics Unit in January 2009. Between 2011 and 2013 he kept additional charge as the Centre’s Interim Executive Director.

Amulya heads the training and workshops vertical at IFMR LEAD. For over two years, Amulya worked with the Capacity Building Team in Sa-Dhan, focusing primarily on programs around Financial and Information Systems Management for small and medium NGO-MFIs. He also has six years of grassroots experience in implementing community-based microfinance projects during his association with Agragamee in Orissa and Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS) in Gujarat. Amulya has a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI), Ahmedabad and a bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar.

Anup holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from University of Delhi. He joined IFMR in October 2005 as a Research Associate and has worked on several research studies. Prior to IFMR, he worked with University of Delhi for 4 years as well as the World Bank as Short Term Consultant for more than a year. At present, as Chief Operating Officer at IFMR LEAD, he ensures organizational effectiveness by providing leadership for the organisation’s International Expansion, Partnership & Training, HR & Administration, Grant Management, Financial Functions, effective Data Collection, Data Management and Ethical Compliance. Being a part of the management team, he also contributes to the development and implementation of organizational strategies, policies and practices.

John is a Senior Project Manager at IFMR LEAD and currently oversees the organization’s MSME and Entrepreneurship research portfolio. John has 10 years of experience in the Development Sector and has a special interest in SME growth. He has worked at Tata Consultancy Services in implementing a Computer-Based Functional Literacy Training program as part of the Entrepreneurship Development program of Bharatiya Yuva Shakthi Trust at Confederation of Indian Industries and has partnered in setting up a SME consulting firm. His core areas of work are project design, implementation and monitoring & evaluation. John holds a Master’s degree from the Madras School of Social Work and Bachelor of Computer Science from the Madras university. He has been with the organization since 2011.

Meenakshi a Senior Manager in HR at IFMR LEAD. She has a strong background in Human Resources. She has experience in handling HR functions for diverse industries like manufacturing, service and retail segment. Meenakshi has a Master’s in Social Work from Madras School of Social Work and pursued other HR courses like PGDPM and PGCHRM from NIPM Kolkata and XLRI Jamshedpur, respectively.

Nayan heads the Policy & Outreach team at IFMR LEAD. A public health professional with strong academic training and orientation, Nayan has wide ranging experience in managing and leading public health programs and research for more than 16 years. His professional experience is an interesting blend of Policy, Program Management and Research skills with extensive experience in strategic partnership and negotiation with senior Government officials. He has received academic training in Public Health from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), University of London and Masters in Rural Management, XISS, India. Nayan is a Wellcome Trust fellow for the years 2010 and 2013, which supported his second Masters from the LSHTM, University of London. He has more than 12 international publications in leading peer reviewed international journal of repute to his credit and is also a scientific reviewer of some of the leading international Journals from Emerald publication house. He has previously led 5 independent policy-research projects in the domain of Food Security, Hunger and Child & Women’s Nutrition as Principal Investigator and has played an important role in contributing some of the policy challenges in the domain of Public Health through his research and advocacy.

Parul heads and manages IFMR LEAD’s research portfolio in the space of financial inclusion. She is involved in designing and implementing experimental and quasi-experimental impact evaluation studies. These include evaluation of government programs, initiatives by development institutions, and innovative financial products, services and delivery channels. She is also engaged with policy-oriented research at IFMR LEAD. Parul’s research interests include labour mobility, product suitability and digital financial services. She is a co-investigator on some of the related studies in various parts of India, and now Bangladesh. As the head of the financial inclusion portfolio, Parul works in close collaboration with policymakers, practitioners, donors and academia across the globe.

Preethi heads the Innovation vertical at IFMR LEAD. As an Innovation Champion, she drives new initiatives and is responsible for conceptualizing new areas of interest for the organization. Prior to heading the Innovation vertical, Preethi was overseeing the entire field data collection and digitization operations of IFMR LEAD in her capacity as Senior Manager (Operations & Development). Preethi is also involved in developing and leading research studies and short term projects in open data, finance and healthcare. She is also involved in fundraising, outreach and capacity building activities for IFMR LEAD. She has been with IFMR LEAD since 2006 (she took a sabbatical from 2012 to 2014 for personal reasons). Prior to working as Senior Operations Manager, Preethi worked as a Policy and Development Fellow, and as Senior Research Associate in the MSME sector from 2006 until 2012. Her primary project in the MSME sector was on financial access through Chit Funds. She has a Masters degree in Management from IFMR Business School where her focus areas were Finance and Marketing.

In her free time, Preethi likes to write poetry, read fiction and watch movies

Shakti is a seasoned finance professional with over 18 years of experience in both corporate & social sector organisations, and has spent the past 10 years in senior management roles. He is an expert in managing the entire financial gamut of large organisations with focus on building effective, delivering & committed teams.

He is a keen analyst with an eye for detail and commitment to accuracy & quality while meeting larger organisational goals & strict timelines.

Prior to joining IFMR LEAD, he has worked with large social sector organisations like VSO International, Care, Cotton connect & Ide-India. He also had his entrepreneurship stint to guide & support small & grass-root social enterprises.

At IFMR LEAD, he is a part of the management team and as Head – Grants & Finance, provides strategic leadership for these functions to bring efficiency & synergy to ensure the achievement of long term sustainability with accuracy & transparency.

Sujatha is an experienced management professional with 10+ years of multidisciplinary, global experience across practice areas such as Public Sector and Social Sector Development, Banking and Financial Services. At IFMR LEAD, she is responsible for design and delivery of key strategic initiatives related to public infrastructure and basic services through a combination of research, outreach and policy advocacy. Her research interests and portfolio span a range of sectors (include Water and Sanitation, Solid waste management, Energy, Public health, Financial inclusion, Livelihoods) ), across various policy and governance reform areas (public finance management, public-private partnerships, inclusive business models for basic services, eGovernance, monitoring & evaluation). She leads a range of research-policy partnerships with central/sub-national governments in India. She holds an MBA from Suffolk University, Boston and an undergraduate degree in Science from the University of Madras. Prior to her current position, she worked for State Street Corporation (USA), Raytheon (USA) and Citibank (India)

Dr.R.Uma is a doctorate in Ecology and Environmental Sciences with 24 years of diverse work experience that includes technical assistance and coordination of various projects related to Environment and Climate Change, Biodiversity Conservation, Natural Resource Management (NRM), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Socio-economic studies and Poverty Reduction, with a few of them integrating gender concerns as well as policy making workshops. As part of her work she has been involved in raising funds through proposals.

She has served in various capacities such as Project Officer, Tamil Nadu under the GIZ-CCARAI Project (Climate Change Adaptation in Rural Areas of India), Senior Scientist at M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, ENVIS Coordinator at Environment Protection Training Research Institute, Hyderabad, in addition to being a faculty member for Lund University’s collaborative Post Graduate course on Preventive Environment Management. As a freelancer for a brief period, she served as a Guest Faculty for Graduate and Post Graduate Courses on Environment Management & Environmental Sciences at Anna University, Chennai, besides being consultant to a couple of organisations in Chennai. She has also been a resource person for training programmes and lectures in various organisations on themes relating to ecology, environment, forestry and sustainable development, for various groups ranging from government institutions, educational institutions, forest officials, farming communities, etc.

She is trained in field-oriented techniques and has travelled extensively as part of project activities.She has also published articles, newsletters, edited books and proceedings. Her current focus of work will be Environment & Climate Change with gender as a cross cutting issue along with capacity building activities relating to this focus area.